What a week!

I almost quit my job this week.
I'm joking, but I'm kinda not.
It's just a build up since Aug. 8, the beginning of this school year.
So, let me begin my complaining/whining/venting.

My trouble makers
At school, each class has troublemakers, right?
The first year I was here, I had 3-4 slight troublemakers out of 22 kids.
Last year, I had 2 major ones out of 19 kids.
This year I have 5 major ones out of 14 kids.

When I started this year, the secretary gave me the list of kids for Grade 5 and said "sorry" while all the other teachers give me sympathetic looks. How encouraging!
3 out of the 5 troublemakers had been absent for a while because they were out camping. I was having fun with my class, getting to know them better, getting the students used to the routines of the class, etc.

AND THEN.!!!!!!!! THEY showed up. That was it. I had all 14 kids in my class and it was CHAOS. (When things get very, very, very out of hand, I turn off the lights and make the students put their heads down for a few minutes to calm them down. I did this twice last year. I used it twice last week.) So, during one of these "heads down" periods, 2 of them started majorly acting up. They started throwing the chair bean bags everywhere, trying to climb out the window, screaming at other kids, giving me major attitude and just would not listen. I warned them until I finally called the office for someone to get them. Someone came, they ran away as soon as the door opened.

I spoke to the principal, v-p and to the special ed. teacher. They all knew of them and were very supportive. I told them I will not teach them, unless at least one of them has a shadow or their parents come in with them. They agreed.

I went home. I cried so hard. Not because I felt like a bad teacher, not because I was mad, but because I feel so helpless and hopeless.These two kids, have alcoholic parents. They are sent from foster home to foster home. They are cousins. One of them seems to have a severe learning disability. They say it's from sniffing too much gas.(the special ed. teacher and I both have written to youth protection about them).

Soooo, I can't teach them because then all the other kids will not be able to learn. They can't bring in their parents because they're drunks. They can't stay with the special ed. teachers because they ruin their classroom and run away. We can't leave them on their own because they skip school and bang on my class window and yell at the kids (that's what happened this friday). You leave them in the office, they do nothing and create problems for all those working in the office. WHAT TO DO?

WINDOWS
We have been having a lot of trouble with the windows breaking. For 2 weeks, we had no windows in my classroom. The kids broke it over the summer. In total we have about 70 windows broken in our school. Each window is a few thousand dollars.
I caught an 8-year old with a sling shot shooting at the school. I take it away. He's telling me he wasn't aiming for the windows(there were 2 broken from previous incidents) and pleading with with me. I asked what he was doing. He says he was aiming for the security camera. WHA...????

PURPLE PAINT
I seriously prayed to God of thanks when I saw this. Grade 4 had a substitute teacher. They got a hold of a tub of purple paint. Everything was completely purple. The floor, their clothes, hands and faces, the hallway, my door, etc... I ran to get the v-p. She came to take over.
I went in my class and saw that my class was somewhat doing their work and quiet, and I thought, maybe this is God's way of showing me I didn't have it THAT bad. He's funny.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Today was the third Sunday after I came back. During the week, I put up posters all over the community and everytime I saw a kid or parent I informed them of sunday school.
Today, there will be a funeral. No Sunday School.... eishi...........

(and I was kinda tricked into going to this ceremony, which I don't think is very biblical, but couldn't back out cause it's disrespectful. Dave and I both repented while we came out. hehe)

PRAYER
I need prayer big time, guys. If you haven't notice already. The two boys in my class, they're names are Leroy and Brandon. Pray for them to have peace. I really want to go to Pharmaprix right now and shop for about two hours.